Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) Stock Holdings Lifted by O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 15.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,537 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $441,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in Wintrust Financial by 530.3% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 39,135 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,247,000 after acquiring an additional 32,926 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 6.0% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 80,782 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,767,000 after purchasing an additional 4,562 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in Wintrust Financial by 4,145.2% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 13,330 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,662,000 after buying an additional 13,016 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 1,412.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 30,393 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,790,000 after buying an additional 28,384 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $499,000. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WTFC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $152.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $157.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $150.00 target price (up from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $155.00 to $138.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded Wintrust Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $132.38.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

Shares of WTFC stock opened at $97.34 on Friday. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $89.10 and a 12 month high of $142.04. The company has a market capitalization of $6.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.44 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $116.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $121.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.11. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 17.52%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.87 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 EPS for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 8th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 8th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.40%.

Insider Activity at Wintrust Financial

In related news, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 416 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.95, for a total transaction of $54,475.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $298,042.20. This trade represents a 15.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 4,213 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.31, for a total transaction of $553,209.03. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 206,294 shares in the company, valued at $27,088,465.14. This represents a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,178 shares of company stock valued at $1,336,315 in the last 90 days. 1.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Wintrust Financial

Wintrust Financial Corporation operates as a financial holding company. It operates in three segments: Community Banking, Specialty Finance, and Wealth Management. The Community Banking segment offers non-interest bearing deposits, non-brokered interest-bearing transaction accounts, and savings and domestic time deposits; home equity, consumer, and real estate loans; safe deposit facilities; and automatic teller machine (ATM), online and mobile banking, and other services.